Tag Archives: USA

It is the time of the year when young birds leave their nest and so it’s probably no wonder that I happened upon this little fella on one of my last runs. Of course, I didn’t touch him or anything, just watched him sit there for a while, hoping that his family would find him and finish the job of teaching him how to fly.Es ist wieder die Jahreszeit der flügge werdenden Vögel und so scheint es wohl wenig erstaunlich, dass ich auf einem meiner letzten Läufe diesem kleinen Kerlchen begegnet bin. Natürlich habe ich ihn nicht angefasst sondern nur für eine Weile beobachtet, wie er geduldig dasitzt. Ich hoffte inständig, dass seine Familie ihn finden und ihm das Fliegen noch fertig beibringen würde.

On Saturday’s run a couple of bicyclists and fellow runners had to disturb a wedding party about to take pictures on this little footbridge down at Lady Bird Lake close to Longhorn Dam. It was drizzling at the time so they first had to remove the humongous pile of umbrellas they had piled up at the end/beginning of the bridge 🙂Auf meinem Samstags-Lauf mussten einige Velofahrer und Mit-Läufer eine Hochzeitsgesellschaft stören, die gerade dabei war, Fotos auf dieser kleinen Holzbrücke beim Lady Bird Lake nahe des Longhorn Dams zu schiessen. Es nieselte und so musste die Gesellschaft erst einmal den enormen Haufen Regenschirme aus dem Weg räumen, die sich am Anfang/Ende der Brücke aufgetürmt hatte 🙂

They’re a regular sight on my Town Lake runs.

The other day I finally stopped and took a picture of a flock of geese that I come upon quite frequently on my runs along Town Lake. I don’t know what it is about geese but they always make me smile. Their looks are very similar to that of swans but the latter have a tendency to scare me while geese just seem so much friendlier, not sure why. Probably because no goose ever tried to peck my brother to mush in his stroller back when he was a baby.Kürzlich habe ich mir endlich die Mühe gemacht anzuhalten und ein Foto dieser Gänseschar, die mir recht oft auf meinen Läufen um den Town Lake begegnet, zu machen. Ich bin mir nicht ganz im Klaren darüber, warum mich Gänse immer zum Grinsen bringen. Gänse sehen ja Schwänen ganz schön ähnlich, aber die Letzteren beunruhigen mich eher, während Gänse so viel freundlicher wirken; keine Ahnung. Vielleicht weil keine Gans je versucht hat, meinen Bruder in seinem Kinderwagen zu Brei zu picken als er noch ein Baby war.

While Switzerland and parts of Germany and France – see a photo of the Seine’s high waters that my boss sent me from Paris below almost got swamped off the continent Texas can’t complain about shortage of water either. What’s good for lakes and aquifers is not necessarily great on streets as owing to the rocky ground the water isn’t absorbed easily and even the tiniest thunderstorm quickly sends cars all over the place: Aquaplaning is the rule and very often water streams across streets in streams which might look relatively harmless but considering that only 2 feet of moving water can carry away a large car or even a bus makes you think twice about driving through anything more than a trickle.

Oftentimes houses are left partially flooded but since we’re living on a hill the worst I have to deal with is usually smaller obstacles such as I encountered earlier this week on one of my runs:Oftmals blieben Häuser teilweise überflutet zurück, doch da wir auf einem Hügel wohnen, endet starker Regen für mich meist eher in leichten Hindernissen wie Anfang der Woche auf einem Lauf:

Luckily I was able to bypass the hindrance safely and without any poison ivy attacks.
On the last piece of my run I got to encounter how high the lake’s waters really were – the kayak rental was totally submerged:Glücklicherweise konnte ich das Hindernis sicher und ohne Giftefeu-Attake umgehen. Auf den letzten Metern dann sah ich auch wie hoch der See tatsächlich stand – die Kajakvermietung total unter Wasser:

And my visit to the hairdresser didn’t have a whole lot to do with water either except for when the haircutter washed my hair but after the appointment I was so happy with my total overhaul that I even took a rare selfie:Und auch mein Auflug zum Frisör gestern hatte nur beim Haare waschen mit Wasser zu tun, aber ich war nach dem Besuch so happy mit meiner Totalrenovation, dass ich sogar ein rares Selfie schoss:

And today’s run even had no connection to water whatsoever except for the fact that I ran around Town Lake. For once the dam’s lock were opened considerably, hopefully making jogging around Town Lake possible without having to circumvent wet obstacles.
But in exchange a nice surprise awaited be on my way to my usual starting spot along the lake (and once again – this had absolutely nothing to do with water…): I got into a traffic jam. And when wanting to check the reason of the congestion I discovered to my deepest concern that I must be the reason for it:Und der heutige Lauf hatte eigentlich überhaupt nichts mit Wasser zu tun, abgesehen davon, dass ich am Town Lake entlang lief. Für einmal waren auch die Schleusen des Stausees ziemlich weit offen, so dass hoffentlich bald wieder ein Joggen ohne feuchte Hindnisse zu umgehen möglich sein wird. Dafür wartete auf dem Weg zu meinem üblichen Startplatz eine Überraschung auf mich: Ich geriet in einen Stau. Und als ich auf der Karte nachgucken wollte, was den Stau verursacht musste ich mit Schrecken feststellen – dass ich es sein musste:

While the current Stanley Cup final calls for Sharks vs. Penguins, the wildlife I encounter features just as much variety: Last week I spotted lots and lots of turtles along Ladybird Lake and one even sat quietly on the trail surrounding the lake. This weekend on my walk along the neighborhood wood and bush trail I walked upon – a giant, sunbathing snake! *OMG* At first I thought it was dead and I considered stepping over it. But my instinct knew better and retreated a few steps to consider the situation from afar – and sure enough: The snake lifted its head, darted its tongue in and out a couple of times and snaked its way off the path into the shrubberies. While quietly watching the snake I must have looked like a version of Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream.

And while keeping a cautious eye towards those same bushes I went on with my walk, undisturbed – most certainly because of my Gene Wilder-like stomp (see scene at 50m 20s) – and to this very day contemplating the kind of snake it may have been… If I was hard pressed for an answer I’d say it was a Desert Kingsnake, but couldn’t be sure. Because for quite obvious reasons I was reluctant to move my eyes away from the snake only to take a photo of it. Because I’m not a huge fan of “Look: selfie with snake – how cool’s thaaattt… arrrgh…”

I’ve had another first recently. Not only was I offered “ball cake” for the first time, a delicious sounding edible that immediately made me think of doughnut holes, but they were “gender reveal ball cakes”. Come again?

The coworker who offered me the sweet is a soon-to-be-dad and as it turns out he and his wife just recently found out the gender of the baby. So he walked around the office handing out the sweet and asking what everyone thought it would be, boy or girl. Once you’ve decided you bite into the ball cake and the color of the cake inside will give you the answer. There we have it, nothing too small for sweets and celebration in the big U.S. of A. – I like!

Friday the 13th truly was partaking of adversity this time – namely, it was the first anniversary of Oscar’s death. Merlin’s was around April 9th or 10th. I observed his anniversary by running a 10k. Probably to drown any possibly emerging emotional suffering with physical pain.
For Oscar’s anniversary on the other hand I hadn’t planned anything at all as I prefer to think about their lives instead of how and when they died. I think I only entered the date into my calendar to proof to myself that I actually mad it this long without them. Something which at the beginning – and for what felt like half an eternity – seemed quite impossible, but that I have learned to cope with by now. And luckily, the real heavy moments are becoming fewer and fewer.

For example Oscar’s tenacity in following me around and rubbing up against my legs until I would eventually sit down and let him hop on my lap. And most of all his way to say “Mrrp” if something didn’t quite suit his plans.

Or Merlin who regularly awaited me after work sitting on a tree or next to the house, then came running up to me and – in his exhilaration – stood back on his hind legs to tap my hand with his front paws. Merlin-High-Five is what that was called.

Last night we were able to attend a highly anticipated concert of the talented guitarists, kindly sponsored by our boss – thank you boss. I was drawn to the concert because – thanks to my brother – I grew up with the Mexican sounds of the Gipsy Kings. Back then my brother was especially intrigued with the fact that three members of the band played the guitar right-handed and three left-handed. Today it seems the lead singer is the only left-handed player remaining in the band. But that does not derogate from the whole experience. We enjoyed the wonderful atmosphere in the Moody Theatre and clapped our hands sore. The standing ovation at the end of the concert was more than deserved by the talented gentlemen!

P.S. Maybe I should give the gentlemen a tip about my brother – after all he’s been playing the guitar ever since he walked into a music shop and bought one and taught himself how to play it. Plus – he’s a lefty.

We’ve had a couple of flowerpots on our patio for quite a while now and to my delight – and in spite of my really-not-so-green-thumb – the flowers continued to bloom. Until one day a squirrel took a liking to one of the plants. It started digging up the soil and munching the flowers and fresh leaves off.Schon seit einem Weilchen haben wir zwei Blumenkübel auf unserem Balkon und zu meinem Entzücken – und trotz meines wirklich-nicht-so-grünen-Daumens – haben die Blumen kontinuierlich geblüht. Bis eines Tages ein Eichhörnchen anfing, Gefallen an einer der Pflanzen zu finden. Es begann damit, die Erde aufzuwühlen und die Blumen und frischen Blätter abzuknabbern.

The other flower was never touched for some reason – until yesterday. When I came home from work the most pitiful sight awaited me: All that was left were some leafless flower stalks.Die andere Blume wurde seltsamerweise nie angerührt – bis gestern. Als ich von der Arbeit nach Hause kam, erwartete mich der armseligste Anblick: Alles was übrig geblieben ist, sind die blattlosen Blumenstängel.

The little black dots on my face and neck: Not freckles but gnats…

Deeply annoyed but motivated by the finally sunny weather I went for a run. And Mother Nature threw all the gnats it could find at me. So I avoided breathing through my mouth. Which had me catch a whole army of them in my nose. Back home when I blew my nose a whole armada of gnats streamed out. I’m pretty sure I ingested and inhaled some as well which would explain why all of a sudden I heard – and felt – that ominous rumble in my guts that you never wish to hear and especially not feel. Least of all when you’re on a run. I had to run home real fast to make it to the restroom on time…

While yesterday after work I couldn’t quite decide whether to go for a nap or a run and subsequently the devils and daemons in my head started to fare war I eventually took over and went for that long over-due post-race run. And it was pure joy! I felt like what I hope free-range chickens feel like: Let loose!

Sometimes I’m a little slow, I have to admit. Not so frequently with jokes, though it can happen. Especially with jokes that only really start to be funny when you’ve heard them for the umpteenth time. It’s a little like saying “tree” twenty times in a row until the word loses all meaning and thus starts to sound funny.

But it can happen that I create a riddle for myself without even knowing that I’m doing it. One such conundrum oftentimes presented itself to me when I got ready for a run, as it just so happened last Saturday. I was planning on jogging through the woods behind our house and thus opted for the running cap instead of the headband. The reasons for this are twofold: Firstly – it’s not as bright in the woods as it can be along Lake Austin so I don’t necessarily need sunglasses. It’s even preferable not to wear sunglasses among the trees and shrubberies as spotting strange shadows might be helpful in keeping my health. Secondly – for the same reasons I’m not listening to any music while running through the forest so I’m not in need of the headbands added stability to keep my earphones lodged in my ears.

Anyway, whenever I put on my cap for a run I noticed that my head must have increased in size for it was way too tight since the last run. Even if I didn’t wash it in between – sorry, I know it’s gross but it happens. It was a mystery to me. Until this Saturday. I finally figured it out. One has to know that even though it might be hot in Texas, there’s oftentimes a nice moderate breeze in the air. Passing over a bridge crossing Ladybird Lake this breeze usually picks up some strengths, making it necessary to tie the cap as tight around my head as possible. But why then does it not fit over my head before I start a run? Of course! Because my hair is not yet damp with sweat and pressed down, but still soft and fluffy and even though I have fairly fine and thin hair it seems to be enough to make wearing the cap with those same settings from last time rather uncomfy. Well, there we have it – every day is a school day!

Texas Bluebonnet… which to the dismay of all Texans I keep calling Blue Bells 😀

On a more general note I can announce that with the blooming of our flowers on our patio and especially the Texas Bluebonnets starting to show themselves in all their glory, spring officially ousted a never really present winter.